Mum claims daughter was nearly kidnapped in HK Disneyland

A Singaporean woman claims her daughter was nearly kidnapped by two women in Hong Kong Disneyland last Tuesday.

Ms Gigi and her husband were queuing at a space-themed restaurant with their five-year-old daughter at about 4.15pm on June 21.

In an email to citizen journalism website STOMP, Ms Gigi said that her daughter had been standing "right behind" them in the queue. The parents turned their eyes away from their daughter for a moment to look at the menu.

The couple searched the restaurant frantically and after five minutes, they spotted their daughter at an "enclosed corner with two young women" (pictured above).

The couple then walked over to their daughter and sat down with her. They tried to smile at the two women.

However, the two women behaved suspiciously, said Ms Gigi.

"We were smiling and trying to look friendly but the two women were behaving suspiciously, all the while looking down or away... as if they were trying to hide their faces".

Ms Gigi's husband managed to photograph the women's faces by pretending to take a shot of Ms Gigi.

The couple questioned their daughter after they left the restaurant. The girl said that the women had asked her to follow them.

Ms Gigi said, "While we have to admit that the words of our little 5-year-old daughter may be inaccurate, and that we may be over-sensitive, this incident could be either a simple case of misunderstanding, or a case of attempted child abduction.

"We feel that it is better to be safe than sorry, and so we want to share this with all parents to be careful with their children."

According to checks by AsiaOne, Hong Kong Disneyland has only one space-themed restaurant - Starliner Diner in Tomorrowland. It is the biggest restaurant in Hong Kong Disneyland with 800 seats.

AsiaOne reader Connie Chew said that her mother's friend had a similar encounter in China.

"My mum's friend's 2 young grandchildren also have similar encounter in China... So we parents must always be by their side when we are in other countries or even in our own country," she said in a post on AsiaOne's Facebook wall.